Italian Adventures...Love, Lust and the Like (Rome, Cinqueterre and Pompeii )

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Judging from the title of my blog you all can tell I had a wonderful time in Italy. Luckily I flew (a luxury that I splurged on in April thinking I would be tired of trains and ferries by now...great idea in the end!) from Athens to Rome and it was pretty easy and adventure free.

Rome Day One: Saturday

I had to take a train into the city and then the underground to Carlo, my first Roman couchsurfing host. He picked me up on his Vespa (YAY) and went to his lovely little flat. Already 1pm by now, I shot out of the door to get my first taste of Rome. I went to all those famous places that you see from afar your entire life...yet it´s this surreal experience when you see it first hand.

I love Dan Brown's books, author of Angels and Demons which happens to take place in Rome so naturally I researched all the places in the book and set out to find them. Which started me at numerous places that i wont say, so you should read the book. I saw the Spanish Steps that were dissapointingly just some stairs that are swarming with tourists and the lucky pickpocketer and then I saw the Trevi Fountain and threw a coin in the water to ensure a speedy return to Rome as fable tells it. Roman streets are a little difficult so i got a little lost orienting my way around but i finally made it to the famous Pantheon and saw the awe inspiring dome. Then an unfortunate bout of rain occured and since i was wearing flipflops I had to return home because I was slipping and sliding across the cobblestone streets.

Sunday

Every last Sunday of the month the Vatican opens its museums up for free....well a lot people caught wind of this and even though I showed up to wait in line 1.20 hours early the line was wrapped around the block before opening. I finally got in and was mesmerized by all of the work (the catholic church is hording quite a collection I might add) Unfortunately there were a thousand people in the Sistine Chapel so I didn't really enjoy it and wasnt as impressed as I thought I would be. At the Vatican I met this guy name Tom who is a grad student at OSU. He became the boyfriend for the day as we travelled around, had lunch together , and caused a general ruckus in Rome. Hyped up on the fabulous gelato, we thought it would be fun to try to scale the walls of the Castle San t'angelo ( it was 8 Euro to get in the fortress and being poor travellers we opted out) until we saw the cameras start to scale closer to our faces...we decided to jump off the gate and bolt. Carlo took me to an Entonoche or a wine bar where I indeed enjoyed some wine and a free buffet of Italian salads and etc with his friends. Then we hung out at the Piazza Navona where all the drunken revelry begins.

Monday Day One Cinqueterre

I left Rome to go north to Cinqueterre for a few days because my couchsurfing host Alessandro was only available during the week. He is an owner of this great bar and private beach. So I got of the train in the Village of Monterosso and met him at his work. I dropped my stuff off and explored the town for the rest of the day. But I got tired and layed down on a park bench and fell asleep. If anything about this trip I've learned to be less particular about where I sleep and have found parks to be a godsend.

Day Two Cinqueterre

The next day I decided to go on the famous 5 hour hike across all five towns. It was a bit strenuous but the view is absolutely amazing as you are surrounded by lemon and olive trees, vineyards, the jagged coastline, and the wonderful rainbow of houses. Each little village I went through I stopped to enjoy the unique qualities and etc....finally I reached the last stretch called the Via D'ell Amore or the Street of Love...so rather unfortunately I did this all alone on the Romantic coastline...however I think this road brought me a lot of luck later on 😊

I finished the 5 hour hike in a bout 3.5 hours...so I was pretty proud of myself...I took the trai n from the last village back to Monterosso (pretty much the only way to get through the towns due to the terrain unless you want to hike all the time) I stopped by this bar that was reccomended in my book and immediately the bartender took notice of me...he made me a special drink and asked me out on a date for the next day...of which I obliged..very flattering considering I was sweaty and dirty from my hike. but the italians know how to flatter a girl....

I got home early because Alessandro, my host wanted to cook me dinner. Surprise, he invited a bunch of people over and decided to have a dinner party so I was pretty excited. There were 2 british guys, 4 Italians and then 3 other norweigen girls. We ate outside by his lemon tree with candles and a wonderful view of the village and ocean. He made the best homemade pesto from his garden and we stuffed ourselves not knowing that there were two more courses to go. There was also beer, wine, and rum galore...so in true dinner party fashion...I ended up drinking a whole bottle of the fabulous wine and made the cute British guy Joe sing to me with his guitar. How perfect was that night? We decided to take a walk to the beach together and enjoyed eachothers company...I think the via dell amore did wonders for me...or maybe it was the wine we all had. This guy was very cute and he has this charisma about him that is amazing. He decided to up and leave England to move to Italy and now is moving to Budapest all at the age of 24...quite jealous of his lifestyle. He's wonderfully intellectual and opionated so I was attracted to him instantly. We were going to hang out the next day but I forgot I had a date with the bartender...so we settled on hanging out on Thursday... (Yay for the Via D'ell Amore!) He is the Love of the story...well not the fall head over heels love...just that movie like love...

Day Three Cinqueterre

We all woke up this morning not exactly in our prime...and the aftermath of the party was apparent...I think drinking the bowls full of rum did it to us as there were crisps all over the place from our crispfight and all the dead soldiers we had left behind on the table...plus there was sand in the bed because I had fallen asleep on the beach last night. I met the bartender that afternoon and we went to the beach and layed out for a bit and then he brought me back to his flat to cook me a wonderful pasta lunch however he expected more than my company and just lunch which I did not appreciate so much and told him clearly...but Italian men can be pushy...but he got the point afterawhile. He is the lust...not my lust...more like I was his...

Day Four Cinqueterre

Yes!! Today was going to be my day with beautiful british joe.... I hung out with Inga one of the norweigen girls around town for a bit and then I took a train to a nearby town of Sestri Levante to meet Joe.. So much for going to Naples today... We sat by the beach with his friend Antonio and had a great time until it started pouring down rain and by the time we ran to the train station we were soaked. Joe walked me to me train...gave eachother soaking wet hugs and the ever fabulous euro kiss...

Day One Pompeii and then back to Rome

It was rather unfortunate, but last night I took a night train, normally never a big deal until I was informed that Italians go on holiday in August. Lo and behold I had to camp out in the corridor of the hallway on the floor all night...not ideal especially with all men. I think they felt bad for me and just let me curl up and sleep since I was all alone...I saw the famous ruins of Pompeii...one of the guards Vicenzo took a liking to me and took me on a special tour by unlocking the gates to current excavations closed to the public. The tour was a mix of three languages dominantly italian and french with some english thrown in...luckily I knew all three so it worked out pretty well with my general response of "si, capito" The guy was pushing 70 years and he kept kissing my cheeks and I was so worried he was going to kiss me on the lips...but he was about 5'4" so I figured I could take him if I needed to... (It's all about the groin shot) He is the like of the whole story....

Under the hot sun next walking along the town of the ruins I was about to fall over and die...so hours later I pretty much was delerious as I used my Eurail pass to make it back up to Rome that night to see my new host Simone. I got to Rome late at night, and kept getting lost trying to find him, finally I reached him and he cooked a fabulous Spaghetti Alla Carbonara. We then had a bottle of wine and then a shot of Grappa which is made of grapes but is 55% alcohol...I thought I was really going to fall over and die this time...but it put me fast to sleep...

Day Two Rome Again

I checked out the Coloseum (amazing), saw the Roman Forum, and other various sights today by being a supertourist. I returned back to the flat and Simone was in the midst of making us another great meal (seriously Italian men can cook!) He then took me on a night tour of Rome on his motorcycle...it was wild and fun and we hit 155 KM an hour to the point where I thought I could fly off his bike...

Day Three Rome

I went to an outdoor market early this morning where tons of goods are hawked for dirt cheap. Especially apparent were black market goods...I eyed the new Summer Gucci bag I really wanted...bargained him down to $10 and then had to walk away... I just couldn't be at peace with myself walking around with a fake bag... Since today is Sunday, pretty much the only thing open are the churches so I just vegged out with Simone today at his apartment...sometimes you just need those days...oh and good news...British Joe messaged me that he wanted to see me in Rome today even though its a good 5 hours by car... but unfortunately I had to leave for Nice that night so we just missed eachother...but it's the thought that counts....sigh...love, lust and the like in Italy....

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Comments

[Joseph]

Love, Lust...and missing Asians
Great entry...one of my favorites so far. Glad you're having such a blast...can't wait to see you!